Huppert’s call for pardon for Alan Turing goes to Lords

Cambridge MP Julian Huppert’s call for a pardon for mathematician and wartime code breaker, Alan Turing was put to the House of Lords today (Wednesday, July 25).

Liberal Democrat Lord John Sharkey introduced a Private Member’s Bill to give Dr Turing national recognition and a free pardon.

Julian, along with other MPs, has been campaigning for the government to act. He held a debate to commemorate the Centenary of Alan Turing at Westminster Hall last month.

He said: “This is a great step forward for this campaign. Alan Turing made a huge contribution to society but his work has gone largely unrecognised. And he was treated abominably by the society he helped so much. Now we have the opportunity to put right what we got so badly wrong.

“If this Bill becomes law Alan Turing will have the recognition and free pardon that he deserves.”

Lord Sharkey said that Turing was the father of computing and his legacy is with us every time anyone uses a computer anywhere in the world.

“He also helped save this country,” he said. “His work on cracking the Enigma Code at Bletchley Park during World War II undoubtedly changed the course of the war and saved many thousands of lives. But instead of being rewarded by his country, he was cruelly punished and convicted simply for being gay.

“If my Bill becomes law, as I hope it will, then this will finally go some way towards acknowledging the debt we all owe to Alan Turing and grant him the free pardon he so clearly deserves.”

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